Rigatoni with Sausage, Peppers, and Onions

recipe from - Everyday Italian, Giada De Laurentiis

* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 pound sweet Italian turkey sausage
* 2 red bell peppers, sliced
* 2 yellow onions, sliced
* 1 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
* 4 garlic cloves, chopped
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 1 cup Marsala wine
* 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
* freshly grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

1. Heat the oil in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausages and cook until brown on both sides, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain. (I sliced the sausages before cooking them to reduce cooking time)
2. Keeping the pan over medium heat, add the peppers, onions, salt, and pepper and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the oregano, basil, and garlic and cook 2 more minutes.
Add the tomato paste and stir. Add the Marsala wine, tomatoes, and chili flakes, if using. Stir to combine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the browned bits. Bring to a simmer.
3. Cut the sausages into 4 to 6 pieces each, about 1-inch cubes. Add the sausage back to the pan and stir to combine. Cook until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes.
4. While the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 8-10 minutes. Drain the pasta and add to the thickened sauce; toss to combine. Spoon into individual bowl and sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves: 4-6

CHANGES WE LIKE.
We (and by we I mean Catherine) adds a lot of unmeasured GARLIC. 4 spoonfuls instead of 4 cloves is more like it. We also for the guys add more MEAT. Usually 1 package of sweet italian turkey sausage and 1 package of hot italian sausage. In this picture we used whatever pasta we had available or that we could find. (Rotini). Sometimes we add grated white cheese (mozzarella or a italian blend) and bake it as a casserole. 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

A week without spending money!!

I hate feel trapped by debt, so I am going to track my spending and put myself on a cash budget and put the rest towards my debt. I am already a boring person - I like reading and picnics, long walks outdoors and farmers markets. While I want to be frugal, I want to be healthy. Gr why is our society is backwards, it's cheaper to eat processed bad foods, than locally grown organic foods. But at least I am stubborn enough to say I don't want to eat crappy food anymore; I am too old to do that to my body. Anyways, that doesn't leave me with any money really to go out or go on trips. The way Ryan puts it, we go out a lot, even though we always share and never drink anything other than water, keep our meals under $10 for the two of us. Makes me want to just not go out at all. Not like I could either, I don't have sugar daddy like Ryan to pay for all my trips and work I am missing. Believe it or not I don't think I could do that. I like to earn things, I would hate to feel in-debt to someone even if they offered. I believe you learn the value of money by doing it the hard way and you appreciate trips more when you earn them and wait. Enough ranting - this week I decided to not spend money for the whole week.

Tuesday - I didn't even go to the farmers market and share a coffee with Ryan. I killed time cleaning and helping John at the office.
Wednesday - laundry and went to the office with John again. Ryan didn't have Qzar so we made burgers and brussel sprouts at home. Watched Grimm off my computer.
Thursday - Window shopping at REI, Ryan picked up products at GNC, ate tuna sandwiches with pickles and mustard, watched End of Game of Thrones and started Dexter, Karaoke at the Greenery.
Friday - Sacramento with mom for the day, Ryan and I ate grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Continued with Grimm.
Saturday - visited Grandma Ann in Half Moon Bay, we watched One For the Money.
Sunday - ran errands with mom, she got a rug cleaner, watched baby Johnny, Walmart with Ryan he bought T-shirts, Ate Linguini with brown butter and mizithra cheese and tri tip. Watched Planet of the Apes.
Monday - Catherine and Adam cooked Giada's Everyday Italian - Pasta with sweet/hot italian sausage, red peppers, onions, marsala wine and tomato sauce. Continued watching Grimm.

I can't wait to eat more vegetables, thankfully its tuesday again. Off to the farmers market. This weeks goal might be to eat healthier and workout more than what I did last week.

Plants and soap!!

This morning while I cut my brothers hair Catherine was in the kitchen having us help her with the fast money round on her iphone. She read the questions out loud and we all tried to answer. It was so entertaining that my dad added the game to his facebook so he could play.

Anyways it sparked a memory. One of the questions asked what is not good for plants or a garden? My sister answer SOAP?? My first thought was - that is such a Catherine response (so silly) - but then my mom begins to tell the story behind it Catherine and her best friend Jamie decide to help clean and washed the plants leaves and all with soap and water. They were in elementary school I think. Anyways so got zero jepardy points.